Just as I consume physical food daily so that I can live, I open and use my bible daily so that I can consume spiritual food and live. However, as I opened my Bible Saturday night for evening scripture, the Lord had a specific message for me that He confirmed as I read Genesis 4 (when Moses was trying to get out of God’s assignment because of his speech issues) and Psalm 41:1. God had one message for me: I am called to share and serve. God has called me to serve Him by serving His children and He has called me to share the good news of Christ to all.
When I was finishing my last semester in college, God spoke to me and told me to move into nonprofit work. Since I was on my fourth major and second college, I did not change my major, but I did move into working with adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD). I absolutely loved my job and this field! My degree was in Finance but here I was physically cleaning the bodies of adults who were unable to do it for themselves… yet, I loved my job. Over the years, I transitioned into more administrative roles because I did have a degree, but something was always missing. I would start the day at my computer doing my job but would end the day doing something directly with the people that I served….and normally I would get in trouble for drifting away from my actual job. But I did not care; I enjoyed every moment that I spent serving and working with these amazing people. They were genuine and honest to a fault and truthfully, I enjoyed their company more than I enjoyed the company of some people who did not have a disability.
And then in 2011, my beautiful niece, Sophia, was born. I knew from the moment that she was born that she was different, as in unlike any one else, but I also suspected that she may have been on the Autism Spectrum based on some of her actions. As we learned a few years later, she truly was on the Spectrum and she also had ADHD. Being the aunt of a child who has Autism has been a struggle…so I can only imagine what her mother (my sister) goes through daily. But Sophia has a wonderful “village” that loves her unconditionally and supports her and her mother to no end. Sophia is blessed, but my time in this field has shown me that she is truly rare.
Yet when I saw my Bible open to that passage, I shed a tear because I could literally hear God telling me that this is where He has called me to be. I have bounced around and dabbled in many fields but working with people with I/DD or even Emotional Disorders (ED) is truly where my passion lies. After I read the passage, I began reading the actual chapters of my evening devotional lesson and it was in reading Exodus 3 and 4 that I began to cry again. God was telling Moses to prepare to head back to Egypt to get His children (the Israelites) out of slavery. I cried at Exodus 3:14…
And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
Reading how powerfully and definitively God declared who He was struck a cord in me and made me cry at His omnipotence. But then in Exodus 4: 10-12 (see below), I cried because I heard myself in Moses’ objections and it was as though God was speaking His response to me.
Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” So the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”
How Moses felt about how God intended to use him was EXACTLY how I felt when God told me to serve and share with His children. And because He knew that I had realized that, He sent me to Psalm 41 for my last scripture of the night (I must add that the scheduled devotional reading for me this night was Hebrews 7, Exodus 3-4, and Psalm 41…so God already had this whole thing planned out for me!). At Psalm 41:1 (see below) I could not even cry anymore; I just read it and nodded in agreement.
Blessed is he who considers the poor;
The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
After a hard first few days at a new long-term sub position, God told me to teach with PASSION, not emotion. He was telling me to be passionate about what I was doing and why, but not to become discouraged if it is not received or accepted the way I wanted it to be.
Fast forward to yesterday as I stood in front of young girls and some of my sorority sisters, telling them my story and sharing statistics about sexual assault. At its surface, this and the scriptures may not seem like they relate but they really do. With this devotional lesson on Saturday, God was telling me that THIS is what He has called me to do. He has called me to teach, inspire, and lead and to do it all with PASSION and LOVE for Him… the scriptures were merely telling me His intended audience for my passion. He was telling me to be with those who are often overlooked, judged, and cast aside.
This is all very hard for me to explain so I apologize in advance if it does not make sense, but I do have one question for you: What has God called and prepared you to do? He has given us all a divine purpose in our lives and has charged us to fulfill that purpose before we are called to meet Him at His home.
Typically, Monday Messages have a different tone and offer lessons based on scriptures but today I wanted to share this all with you. I wanted to charge you all to live your life with full PASSION and divine purpose. Keep in mind that this looks different for every person. For me this means serving the I/DD and ED youth population by day and sharing about God by night. What does it look like for you? God told me to TEACH with passion…what is He telling you to do with PASSION?
Be blessed.
God Happened To ME Ministries, LLC 